Once everyone nodded, Jean gave the order: "Decapitation strike—now!"
The nine knights jumped with hoverboard, soaring high into the air, each locking on to their designated targets.
Shen Qin gave an order to Haro: "Activate Cleanup Mode."
"Command received. Engaging cleanup mode."
The Dragoon Type-I's barrel structure retracted, revealing a thinner, elongated cannon. Harrow hovered at low altitude—around two meters—and locked onto the edge of the monster horde. After a brief charge from the plasma guidance coil, a continuous red plasma beam burst out, the tens of thousands of degrees heat slicing through the monsters like butter.
From Cyrus's perspective, Haro simply fired a thin red beam that swept across a massive 180-degree arc—instantly bisecting all monsters within 50 meters. Even elite monsters were left with deep, gruesome wounds.
After clearing that area, Harrow quickly moved to other dense zones, reaping destruction wherever it went.
Everyone stared in stunned silence at the tiny machine annihilating everything. Even the airborne knights were momentarily speechless—it was just too overwhelming.
Shen Qin sighed softly. Hot weapons on a cold-weapon battlefield—this is what they call dimensional suppression. If not for the magnitude of this crisis, he wouldn't have revealed it so soon.
"Captain Cyrus, and everyone here—please, I beg you, don't spread word about Harrow. It could bring me a lot of trouble."
"It's an incredibly dangerous weapon. If it ever falls into the wrong hands… the consequences would be disastrous," Cyrus replied solemnly. "I swear on my name—Cyrus will not speak a word of this to anyone."
"If it's going to trouble Mr. Shen Qin, I'll keep my lips sealed too."
"A weapon this powerful… it's best if our enemies never learn Mondstadt has it."
One after another, everyone gave their word. Whether they'd actually keep it was another matter, but Shen Qin just hoped to delay exposure as long as possible.
The Dragoon-Type I's cleanup mode was extremely effective. Within a minute, all common monsters on the island and lake were wiped out. (Though the energy core was depleted from the high-intensity output.)
The monsters that were previously guarding the Abyss Mages—as expected—now surged toward the city.
"Now!" Amber didn't forget her cue. She launched a firework signal high into the sky—the signal to attack.
As the Knights initiated the execution plan at the gates, Dvalin and Venti were already facing each other in the skies above Mondstadt.
"Old friend, please… let go of this rage. Don't let the Abyss Order control you—they're just using you!" Venti hovered at Dvalin's eye level, eyes full of sorrow.
"Barbatos, you're the same as ever—still standing by Mondstadt. But I've changed. This time, I fight for myself… not for others!" Dvalin's gaze softened for a fleeting moment as he looked at his old friend of centuries past. But the pain inside him, and the corruption of the Abyss, soon brought the violence back to his eyes.
"No… you've always fought for yourself. Don't you remember the festivals we celebrated together with the people? I played music while you danced through the skies, soaring with their songs…"
"SHUT UP!!"
Dvalin's wings created a violent gust, pushing Venti back several meters. "They've all forgotten me! I endured 500 years of agony to protect them. I thought they'd welcome my return with warmth and joy—but everything has changed!"
Jean and Lisa activated their energy bracelet, calling all the fighters back inside. Now that everyone was sheltered, more and more monsters were gathering outside the barrier.
"Everyone clear on the plan? We'll act the moment Amber gives the signal."
"Got it, Acting Grand Master Jean! You can count on us—I'd lay down this old life of mine to protect Brother Shen!" Cyrus, the Adventurers' Guild branch master, thumped his chest with one hand and rested the other proudly on Shen Qin's shoulder.
Meanwhile, Dvalin dispelled the magical array in the sky, gathering all his power into himself.
"Barbatos! Come fight me. If you beat me, I'll leave Mondstadt alone this time. But if not, not even their god can protect them—so who else could?"
"Sigh… seems like we really can't avoid this fight." Venti pulled a seemingly ordinary lyre from its case. "But if you lose, you better back off."
"Save the talk!" Dvalin lunged at him, jaws wide—he knew Anemo attacks wouldn't work, so he went straight for physical assault.
"You're so impatient." Venti's body shimmered with a light teal glow, floating like a feather on the wind as he effortlessly dodged.
The dragon claw strike that followed also missed its mark.
Venti drifted backward about twenty meters, teasing, "Ehehe~ Come and catch me!"
With a roar, Dvalin's two festering wounds glowed ominously with a dark purple light, flooding him with a corrupt power.
"It brought me pain… but it also gave me new strength!" It charged again, faster this time, the toxic blood sealing off nearby Anemo currents.
"That power will only bring you more pain." Venti dodged again, looking at him with heartfelt sorrow.
"Mind your own business!" Dvalin opened his maw and unleashed a breath of dragonfire infused with the corrupted blood.
Venti furrowed his brows and glanced at Mondstadt below, then strummed his lyre. Winds from all directions converged into a beam, blasting toward the toxic breath.
Back at the city gates, no one noticed what was happening in the sky behind them. Their focus was entirely on the three Knight squads, now sprinting toward the Abyss Mage hideouts as soon as Amber's signal flared.
The ambush caught the mages completely off guard—they hadn't realized their locations had long been exposed.
Point One: Rosaria's massive ice lance struck first, followed by ten of Klee's bombs, and finally, Jean amplified the explosion with her Anemo powers. When the dust settled, the area was a ten-meter-wide crater.
Point Two: Oz rained thunder upon the Fire and Cryo Abyss Mages. Sucrose followed up with a swirl that broke their shields, and Amber finished the job with a fire arrow overload.
Point Three: Lisa broke the fire shield, Diluc's flaming phoenix shattered the Electro barrier, and Albedo's exploding Solar Isotoma bombarded them with Geo damage.
In under thirty seconds, all six Abyss Mages were eliminated, and the squads immediately turned to clear the remaining monsters near the gates.
At the exact moment the Cryo Abyss Mage fell, Dvalin—locked in a power clash with Venti—briefly regained clarity. The overwhelming Anemo energy then blasted him several hundred meters away.
He gave Venti a long look—then decisively retreated. "Hmph, Until we meet again, Barbatos!"